American Bred REDONE Episode 7: Rifts Are Funny Things
by American Companion
Summary: Immediately following the events on Boron, Kathryn is pulled through the Rift into the heart of Cardiff...without the Doctor, and without a way to reach him. TORCHWOOD doesn't know what to make of her, and she doesn't know what to make of them. With inactivity and Rift energy wearing away her sanity, Kathryn has no way to defend herself from the Thing that followed her through...
1. Chapter 1

_Vworp vworp vworp. Thunk. Krrriiiik._

The Doctor stuck his head out of the TARDIS door. His face fell and he sighed. "Well this is certainly boring."

Kathryn Moore, a fifteen year old from America, opened the other side of the double doors and looked out as well. She made a face.

"Blech."

The Doctor looked at her oddly. "I'll grant that it's not very exciting with the absolute nothing, but there's nothing disgusting about it."

"Good for you," Kathryn replied, still looking like she could taste something spoiled. "Everything tastes blue, feels the way a tree looks, and when I blink, instead of the usual energy-color swirl I get, it looks the same way a cranberry sounds. Seems odd, but that's really the only way to describe it. And it's weird and wrong and I don't like it."

Instead of responding to his friend's distress by shutting the doors and leaving, the Doctor withdrew his sonic from his coat and stepped out onto the smooth, gray rock that stretched in every direction. Kathryn followed him, and after scanning for a few moments the Doctor had the answer.

"Rift energy," the Doctor pronounced, putting the sonic screwdriver away. "This area is full of it." He frowned, perplexed. "But why is there nothing here if it's a Rift planet?"

"Hi, still learning over here," Kathryn called. "Rift energy?"

The Doctor, as he always did when sharing information he thought you should already know, turned his attention back to the planet and explained in a slightly derisive manner.

"There's a rift near here, probably surrounding the whole planet. It's like a tear in a seam between time and space. But usually there's stuff everywhere, bits and pieces sucked in from around all time and space. This whole planet should be full of junk. Instead, we've got nothing but rock." The Doctor jumped slightly, landing back solidly. "It's like we're on a huge marble in the middle of space. Odd."

"Maybe the rift is new and hasn't had time to start spitting stuff out."

"Or there's another species nearby that takes everything, like harvesting. Maybe we missed the last shipment."

"Or maybe—ow!"

The Doctor turned to look at Kathryn. She was rubbing the side of her head as she bent to pick up a small black wallet. She looked at it in curiosity. "We spoke too soon." Kathryn opened it and whistled. "Whoever owns this is going to be rather peeved." Reaching in, Kathryn withdrew a fistful of British currency. "I'm going with…21st century UK."

Instead of examining the money directly, the Doctor pulled out his sonic again and scanned it. Frowning, he took the wallet from Kathryn and reached into a credit card slot and produced a hexagonal computer chip, then tossed the wallet back to Kathryn.

"Fascinating."

"What is it?" Kathryn asked, knowing it was the quickest way to getting information out of the Doctor.

"A tracking and homing chip," the Doctor answered, voice slightly distant. "Definitely Earth. But it seems someone's been using alien technology to make it. Whoever made this is brilliant. There must be at least five different species in here. All different times too. Completely unrelated areas of space."

He stared at it a little longer before throwing the chip back to Kathryn and staring out across the nothing. "Oh well, nothing much here. Where to next?"

"Doctor, look at this I.D. card."

The Doctor glanced over his shoulder. Then he turned in a full circle.

All he saw was the flat, gray marble-like surface with the TARDIS sitting on it. Kathryn was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

_I want it to stop. Why will it not stop? It hurts. It hurts. It drains, it fills. Stop. Stop._

_ Everything is…I do not know what it is. It is there, it is not. I can see worlds, but there is nothing. I hear voices, but there is only silence. I can feel and taste and hear and see and smell and think and know, but I do not exist. What is this? Why will it not stop?_

_ Where is he? Where is the Second Friend? _

_ Why is he Second Friend? Where is First Friend? _

_ First Friend is gone. Where did First Friend go?_

_ Something is wrong with First Friend. Why are those thoughts wrong?_

_**Thoughts. I feel thoughts. I need thoughts. I am thoughts. I see your thoughts, the thoughts of Second Friend. Where is Second Friend?**_

_ Second Friend is not here. Second Friend is always here. I never look, but Second Friend is always here. Why is he not here? Did I send him away like First Friend?_

_**Thoughts. Give me the thoughts.**_

_ Stop. Please, stop the thoughts. I hate those thoughts. I want to die and forget those thoughts. _

_ I cannot die. I have too much in me. It takes it, it gives it. What is it? Energy. I remember that word. Important word. Why is energy important?_

_**Thoughts are energy. Energy is thoughts. I feel both. You are both. I can sense you.**_

_ I am energy. I float in energy. I am filled with it. I take it in until it is me. I am in energy. It steals mine, and gives its own to me. It seeks to kill me, yet cannot because I take the energy to me._

_**New energy, new thoughts. Incredible thoughts, amazing energy. Do not leave!**_

_ Please, stop. Stop giving me yours. Take mine if you want, just stop this place. Please, stop. I want to die, but I cannot. Am I here forever?_

_**What is forever? **_

_A long time. __If I must be here forever, I want him to be here. I am lonely. I don't want to be lonely._

_**You will not be. I am here. I am FirstSecond he.**_

_ I want to die._


	2. Chapter 2

_**Cardiff; TORCHWOOD Three Hub**_

A steady beeping sound suddenly erupted from the computers. Toshiko 'Tosh' Sato, TORCHWOOD's residential computer genius, started investigating before anyone else had the chance to look curious.

"We've had a major spike in Rift energy," she called out in her permanently gentle voice. Captain Jack Harkness, the team's leader, appeared over her shoulder.

"Where?"

"Just outside, but the cameras didn't catch anything," Tosh said, pulling up the screen. Except for a lovely, calm picture of the Roald Dahl Plass at night, there was nothing.

"Is it a glitch?" Gwen Cooper said over Tosh's other shoulder. The police liaison's thick Welsh accent was unmistakable.

"No," Tosh said firmly. "Something came through; I'm just not sure what." She hit a few more keys and frowned. "It's still there, actually."

"Of course it's still there Tosh," Owen Harper, the team's medical officer, said with his usual sardonic tone. "If it came through, it's usually here to stay, which means a hell of a lot more work for us."

Tosh shook her head, clicking on the mouse. "No, I mean that it's like there's a huge ball of Rift energy, just sitting there. It's as though it's drawing power to itself, but not electricity."

Jack straightened. "Tosh, keep an eye on it and in contact with us. Owen, Gwen, you're with me."

The three adults moved out, grabbing guns as they went.

* * *

Kathryn sat up abruptly with a deep, choking gasp. In the process she fell off of the bench she'd been lying on. Her thoughts still incoherent, she fumbled at her neck, sighing in relief when she found what she was looking for.

Though she still didn't know why, Kathryn was ridiculously attached to a burnt out DNA transporter, despite the fact it was the thing that had taken the fifteen year old from her family and into the TARDIS in the first place.

That settled, Kathryn looked down at the wallet she had brought through with her. The I.D. card had, eerily enough, her picture on it, but with a different birthdate and the name 'Josephine Cole.' There was also a capital 'T' made entirely out of hexagons, but no hint of what it stood for.

"Still, gives me a name and some info," Kathryn mused. "And money. An absurd amount of money."

Kathryn made a face, spitting off to the side in an effort to rid herself of the taste of the rift. It was everywhere, weighing down on her like a wet wool blanket. She could feel the energy saturating her cells, but it was wrong somehow. Impure and requiring purification before storage.

Kathryn picked herself up off the ground, pushing the wallet into her back jeans pocket. Usually she put everything she found into her Gallifreian messenger bag, but she didn't want to risk losing her new name if something happened to her bag.

The area was city, but seemed very quiet for a city. Maybe she just wasn't near the bars or—if her nose served her true—the wharf. Kathryn—no, Josephine. She must remember that name now.

Josephine/Kathryn seemed to be standing in a huge plaza, with some kind of monument. There were backlit letters on it, what must have been a local dialect and then English.

"In these stones, horizons sing." Josephine shrugged. "Nice sentiment." She knew a great many languages, but the one that was translated was one she didn't know. It definitely looked Earth-based however, which was a good sign. However, it was certainly not something from the Americas, which was a bad sign.

Across from the large, oddly shaped building was a huge tower-like fountain. Something at the base of it caught Josephine's eye, causing her to do a double take.

Perception filter. There was a perception filter on one spot, just the one square, at the base of the tower. And three people were rising out of the ground, as if on an elevator.

Josephine stepped backwards, feeling her heart jump into her throat. The man in the lead, the one in the World War Two army trench coat…he was wrong. But oh, so magnificently wrong! A huge glob of pure temporal energy. Even with her eyes open she could see the silver wisping from his skin. It was such a sharp contrast from the tainted rift that Josephine suddenly wanted to latch onto him and drink in the silver.

And yet…and yet he frightened her. It was unnatural. Nothing could live with that much raw time in them. So he couldn't exist.

_I got glimpses of other things, people I think. A man who felt weird, like he shouldn't exist. _

Josephine backed up, remembering what she'd seen in the Doctor's head scarce hours ago. If the Doctor had doubts about this man, then she was certainly not safe with him.

Her nerve broke. Josephine wheeled about and took off running.

* * *

Jack caught sight of the staring young girl immediately. He wasn't really worried about her seeing them, but his instincts told him there was something off about her.

Suddenly she turned and ran off. Tosh's voice echoed through the team's ear pieces.

"I have a dual screen up. It's the girl. Whoever or whatever she is, she's the Rift energy. I don't know how, but it's her."

"Can you track her?" Jack shouted, starting to pursue the girl.

"Definitely."

"Good, because we're about to lose her."

* * *

Josephine had never run so fast in her life. She felt as though she was floating, flying. The energy of the Rift poured through her, fueling every stride. She would never get tired, could escape these people without a second thought. They'd never catch her.

The power danced up her spine and raced through her veins as she twirled in-between people and down streets, up alleys and across roads. Whatever was happening, it was going deeper than mere energy absorption, like she'd had for the past few months. Now…this was energy. This was life. This was _power_.

And she would never let go.

* * *

Jack, Gwen, and Owen all stopped, gasping for breath. Once he had enough to speak, Jack talked to Tosh. "We're coming back to the Hub. We have to wait until she stops. There's no way we'll get her on foot."

Tosh's voice came back to him. "I was clocking her at 88.5 kilometers an hour."

"55 miles an hour?" Jack gasped, doing the conversion in his head. "That's impossible."

"She's still going at that speed."

"Any idea where she's going?" Gwen cut in.

"None. It's like…it's like she's running for the pleasure of it. She's on the beach at the moment."

"Keep tabs on her," Jack ordered. "See you at the Hub."

* * *

Josephine was still running, laughing from the mere ecstasy of it. Oh, such freedom! She was never going back, never.

_**Deering.**_

Josephine tumbled, rolling head over heels as the name resounded in her head. After crashing to a complete stop, she lifted herself from the sand, gasping for air. Who knew that name? Who would have any idea of that name?

She looked up and out over the empty beach. Her eyes widened at the face she half saw in the ocean fog before she scrambled back up and ran back the other way.

Josephine slowed on her own power this time, leaning against a wall. She suddenly felt very tired and very hungry. As marvelous as the temporary fuel had been, she felt as though she were suffering from the worst adrenaline and sugar crash in history.

Pushing herself off the wall, she walked shakily out onto the street. It was a city; somewhere there was bound to be an open restaurant, even at…whatever time this was.

* * *

"She's stopped," Tosh announced as Jack, Gwen, and Owen stepped through the door.

"And you couldn't tell us when we were still outside?" Owen complained.

"She only just stopped. A restaurant near the edge of the city."

Gwen frowned. "An alien that stops for fish and chips?"

"We'll ask it when we catch it," Jack said. "Get in the car."


	3. Chapter 3

Josephine had located a small eatery—or whatever they were called here. Going from the accents she kept picking up, this seemed to be somewhere in the UK. Oh well. Architecture appeared early 21st century, late 20th. America and Britain were on good terms at this point in history.

After ordering coffee—which turned out to be very bad coffee—and some kind of a breakfast dish that Josephine didn't have much hope for, she sat at a corner table. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Josephine sighed, trying to think.

She reached into her back pocket and withdrew the wallet, pulling out the hexagonal chip. It was charred, giving Josephine little hope of re-using it. Flipping it over, she thought through the last hour.

"A rift in time and space…tracking chip…my face on an I.D. card." Josephine shuddered as she thought about the journey through the Rift, then pushed it aside.

"I need to find a way to signal the Doctor, get out of this place. Maybe I can find something to fix that communicator I built. Have to figure out where to get the parts though. Have to figure out the wallet too. I probably sent it to myself, which means I use the chip to find myself, or more likely, TARDIS. And that means I have to procure the un-burnt chip to send the wallet." She frowned. "But where do I get it? For that matter, where did I get the money, what's 'T' stand for, and where am I supposed to find alien tech in…where is this?"

Josephine set that problem aside. Things would fall together in time. She drank more of the poor coffee and grimaced. The taste was still better than the Rift.

That was another problem. This whole city was saturated with Rift energy. Besides the foul taste, Josephine had no idea what the power surplus would do to her. If the episode on the beach was any indication, she was already starting to see things.

Josephine shook her head. It was probably a side effect from that emergency…what did Time Lord's call it? Mind-meld? Nah, too Star Trek. Whatever it was, memories were still rolling through her head, not all of them hers.

"TORCHWOOD member?"

Josephine looked up at the waitress, who was refilling her coffee cup. Something sounded in her head, but she wasn't sure what.

"Pardon me?"

The waitress met Josephine's eyes like she wasn't certain how to respond. Her accent seemed very thick. "Your I.D. card. You're from TORCHWOOD, right?"

_He had the name of some organization attached to him, something to do with a burning forest that wasn't really burning._

The second half of the Doctor's memory of the Man drifted through Josephine's head. Maybe things were coming together already.

Giving a winning smile, Josephine moved seamlessly into a Texan accent.

"Just transferred. Don't know much about it yet."

The waitress picked up on the hint, however subconsciously. "Well, not that great of a secret around here. TORCHWOOD deals with weird stuff, outer space and the like."

"Area 51, UK edition, huh?"

The waitress seemed confused for a moment, then figured out the reference. "Summet like that, yeah. Call themselves the Special Service, but not that much really. Far as I can tell, anyhow," she corrected herself. Josephine nodded.

"We got our own problems in the States. What's the date? Travel and all."

"Seventh of February, 2007." She glanced at a clock on the wall. "Ten thirty at night."

Josephine smiled self-depreciatingly. "No wonder I feel so crummy; I should have been asleep long time back." Josephine glanced at the waitress. "Any tourist traps I need to stop by?"

The waitress thought. "Cardiff isn't exactly a place a lot of people travel too."

Finally, Josephine had a place. She nodded. "Well, I'm sure I'll get on."

A movement outside caught Josephine's eye and she stood abruptly. Looking sharply at the waitress, she spoke quickly. "Got a back way out of here?"

"Through the kitchen."

"Thanks."

* * *

Jack was the first one through the front door, and was just in time to see the girl vanish into the back. Without a word he started after her. The blond waitress he rushed past looked terribly confused.

"But she's one of yours!"

Jack barely heard the protest as he continued his pursuit.

* * *

Josephine was floating again, but not quite. She was like a balloon, bouncing at the end of a string. Out of sheer will, she was keeping herself tethered to Earth.

Curse that Man! Why was he chasing her? What had she done? What was TORCHWOOD? Was that what she was doing here? Was she supposed to figure that out?

Josephine turned down an alley and found a dead end. Swearing, she turned around and ran back out.

* * *

Jack had pulled ahead of Gwen and Owen. Tosh had been feeding him directions, and it looked like the girl was extremely lost. With a bit of luck, they'd corner her soon.

"Turn left and you have her."

Jack grinned and followed the instructions.

It was just an empty side street.

"She's not here Tosh," Jack growled. The Japanese woman's voice came back at him through the earpiece.

"She should be standing next to you."

Jack paused, hearing Gwen and Owen come panting up behind him. On some invisible signal, they all looked up.

* * *

Josephine pulled back from the edge of the roof, cursing herself as she scuttled along. Getting to the edge of the building she was on, she jumped, landing heavily on the next one. Clattering behind her made Josephine turn, and her hearts leapt into her throat as she saw the Man climb up onto the building she'd just sprung from.

Josephine bolted, running along from rooftop to rooftop, slipping occasionally as rain started to fall. The Man followed, still behind but obviously determined.

Suddenly Josephine felt like she was near exhaustion and decided to shake things up a bit. She jumped over one more space, landed, and turned on a dime, coming to stop facing her pursuer.

The Man seemed to get the hint and stopped on the other building. They could speak, but were each out of the reach of the other. They stood that way for a bit, watching each other. Josephine could almost smell the time energy that saturated his every cell. It made her lightheaded.

"Who are you?"

Josephine smiled enigmatically, trying to find a suitable answer. "I'm not really sure, TORCHWOOD. Still working on that bit."

The Man smiled. It was a confident smile, that of a man who knew his opponent was at the disadvantage. "Aren't we all?" he said with a shrug. "You got a name?"

"Several, but currently I go by Josephine Cole," Josephine said, mixing truth around. "You?"

"Captain Jack Harkness."

Grinning, Josephine thickened her Southern accent, stereotyping it. "And you run this here town, and you ain't gonna stand for any funny business from nobody."

Jack laughed. "Close enough. Of course, it'd probably be easier for the both of us if you'd just tell me what you're doing here."

Josephine's accent normalized to her Southern. "I got pulled through your Rift. Not trying to cause problems."

Jack's face hardened almost imperceptibly. "I think there's more to it. You attract too much attention and power to be one of the good guys."

Josephine smirked. "I'll bet that's not what you say to the ladies, is it long liver? How many times have you died, Harkness?"

Jack's eyes widened. "How would you know about that?"

"I can smell it," Josephine said, giggling. She was starting to feel giddy and desperately thirsty. "And it's not that special," Josephine followed up quickly, forcing seriousness. "I've done it myself."

"Really. Care to tell me how?"

Josephine blinked. "Not a good idea." She took a deep breath, trying to think against the energies moving through her. "Look, I know that you've probably been collecting the stuff that comes through the Rift. I need access to it."

"And why would I give you that?"

"I need some parts to fix a communicator so I can call my friend to come pick me up. And I have to make and/or borrow a few other odds and ends."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Why would I let a strange girl who is obviously dangerous signal anyone?"

Josephine was irritated. "Because if you don't, things will get nasty."

Jack glared at her. "Don't press me. You said it yourself; this is my area. This is my planet. If you try anything, I and my team will take you down."

"Don't challenge me, Harkness," Josephine snarled. Jack's glow strengthened now that he was upset. It only made her want the pure energy more. "You haven't met anything like me before."

"That line is overused."

"Only because those with no right to use it say it," Josephine shot back. Her muscles started to quiver, aching and begging for movement. Her vision started to tinge with color, what she knew to be energy bleeding into her normal vision. She was going to lose it soon.

"I've fought bigger things than you, Jo."

"I've lived with bigger men than you, Harkness."

With Rift energy fueling her every move, Josephine leapt from a standing position over the gap between buildings and tackled Jack. She bit his neck hard, drawing blood and gaining direct access to the power that flowed through him.


	4. Chapter 4

Jack now understood what it felt like to be attacked by a vampire. A very attractive vampire, but still a vampire. Ordinarily he wouldn't be very worried by someone trying to kill him. However, this time it felt different.

Josephine didn't seem to be trying for his blood. Something else was draining from him. He wasn't sure what it was, but it felt a great deal like the time he'd faced Abaddon, the creature from the Rift that ate life.

Was Josephine Cole a life-eater?

Jack started fighting harder. Abaddon had been able to kill him for several days; if it happened again, he might stay that way, and Jack was not ready to let go of life.

Rolling over and over, Jack managed to shake off Josephine. She stumbled back and he stood, reaching for his gun. It had only come up part way when Jack stopped, staring at a lanyard she was wearing. She moved and Jack shifted his gaze, watching as she touched the blood dripping from her mouth. Swaying, she stared at her hand. Jack gave a start when she looked into his face. Her eyes glittered silver, like she was wearing contacts.

"You need to leave. Now."

Jack frowned. What sort of killer told her prey to run?

Josephine stared at him a moment longer before turning and jumping off the roof. Jack rushed over in time to see her land on her feet and take off running down the street. Gwen's voice came over his ear piece.

"Owen and I can see her Jack; do we follow?"

"No," Jack replied instantly. "I want everyone back at the Hub." As he stood he put a hand over his neck where he'd been bitten. It hadn't healed yet.

* * *

Josephine ducked in underneath a bridge, sitting down against the wall. The rain-made stream flowed past unnoticed as she shivered.

Josephine felt like her body was going into shock, like a teetotaler who had gone on a drinking binge. No, like a teen who'd had pure cocaine on their first time trying drugs. Her body craved yet was trying to reject the pure temporal energy she'd just siphoned off of Jack. She was vulnerable and couldn't move.

And yet she felt like a hunter, not the hunted. Her mind had started creating a map of the area, though not in street form. She was sensing Rift hot-spots, areas where it was open widest and the energy flowed through the strongest. That fountain/plaza place she'd first come through had the largest one. Among the varying shades of non-color, she could feel Jack moving, leaving traces of time on everything he touched.

Josephine sniffed, holding back the tears she felt pricking her eyes. She was cold, wet, hungry, alone, and scared. That mix made people desperate, and desperate people were dangerous. With everything she was absorbing, she was worse than ever.

Though the Rahki had made her with the ability to absorb all kinds of energy—light, heat, sound, mental—they'd made a huge mistake in not giving her any control over it.

Some people were adrenaline junkies. Some couldn't stop drinking or smoking. Others used marijuana or heroin. Josephine now realized that her drug was energy, and right now she was O. with no way to stop herself and no one to hold her back.

"I have to leave," Josephine said to no one. "There's just so much in the world," she groaned. "Such an amount. Oh and this town! This town is saturated in flowing, running, glorious energies. People, animals, the Rift. Him."

Josephine shook her head furiously, desperately trying to stop such thoughts. She couldn't allow them to take root, she just couldn't. She snapped her head back and hit it hard against the wall she was sitting against, hard enough that she blacked out. She healed almost instantly, waking in a second. Josephine ran her fingers through her hair, her fingers catching in the sticky blood.

"I can't stay here. I can't. If I do, I know that I will lose it. I'll kill everyone. Nothing would be able to stop me. I'm too smart, too prepared, too strong. If I got shot, I'd heal instantly with so much in the air."

_**So much potential.**_

Josephine jumped up, searching for the voice's owner. It sounded so familiar, as though she'd recently heard it.

"Who's there?"

The speaker seemed to ignore her. _**Such emotion. Such power.**_

"Come out where I can see you!" Josephine shouted. The voice seemed to be in her head rather than in her ears. She swallowed hard, fighting down worries.

_**Do you know what I could do with you, Kavrin?**_

Josephine inhaled sharply. That name hadn't been made yet. Her past self was still in America in 2007, but she hadn't given herself that name yet. "Where did you get a stupid name like that from?"

_**I thought it was yours**_.

"Who are you?" Josephine yelled. "Who are you?!"

Only silence greeted her. She sat down hard, feeling her hands mend almost before they were scraped. She dropped her head, knowing she looked like a homeless person. Then again, she was. "And now I'm going mad. I have to find a way out. I could leave. No, then I'll just be stuck on Earth for who knows how long. I have to get back to the Doctor. But how? They'll never help me, and I can't risk going near him."

Josephine lifted her head and shoved a hand into her battered messenger bag, searching for something. She pulled out a pair of gloves with suction cups all over them. A plan started to form in her head. "I know what I'll do. Some work, a distraction, a visit, and then I can get out of Cardiff."

Josephine stood, trying to brush out her hair. "First, I need to commit a few petty thefts."

* * *

Jack was sitting in the sunken med center back at the TORCHWOOD Three Hub, head tilted to one side as Owen carefully swabbed the bite.

"So let me make sure I understand this," Owen said, pulling his own fun out of the situation. "A girl from the States lets you catch up to her, exchanges insults with you, and then tries to eat you."

"Just figure out what's in her genetic profile that's able to keep me from healing," Jack snapped at Owen. Owen raised his eyebrows, smirking.

"She's half your weight."

"I noticed that you didn't catch her," Jack shot back. Owen continued smiling as he cleaned the wound.

"Should heal now," Owen said. "Might take the amount of time the rest of us have to deal with though."

"Jack, I've managed to get her face on camera."

Jack hurried over to the computers. Tosh had hacked into the security cameras for the restaurant that they had found Josephine at.

"Yeah, that's her," Jack confirmed. "I need you to run a facial recognition on her."

"Any particular files?" Tosh asked.

"Everywhere," Jack answered firmly. "CIA, FBI, UNIT, Area 51, newspapers, historical documents, everything. Check our own database, just to be sure."

"You think she's that old sir?"

Jack looked over at Ianto Jones, immaculately dressed as ever. "I don't know if she's that old or just that well-traveled. But if I wasn't seeing things, I know who she's trying to call." Jack started up the stairs, talking all the while. "No one goes home tonight. Try and catch sleep if you can. Oh, and Ianto," Jack said, pausing before going into his office. "Put on a pot of coffee. Make it strong, and make it black."

"You don't take your coffee black sir."

"No, but Texans do."

* * *

Around two A.M., Josephine was back at the Roald Dahl Plass, moving quickly to the fountain. She needed to get in, go through their store room, and get back out. She wouldn't last long here.

Josephine stepped onto the single brick hidden by a perception filter. Pulling out a remote, she adjusted the signal then pressed a large green button on it. The elevator gave a jolt, then started to lower.

She didn't spend much time on the elevator. As soon as there was room, Josephine crawled onto the ceiling, the suction gloves she'd taken yesterday from the hardware store on Boron turning her into a temporary Spider-Woman.

Bending her head backwards to look down, Josephine examined the area. There was a large pillar sitting in a luminescent pool of water, serving as the supply for the outer fountain. Several half levels were connected to each other, each pretending to coil around the pillar. Different doorways seemed to lead further down.

Josephine flattened herself against the roof as something large swooshed by her. Twisting her neck Josephine watched in awe as a pteranodon continued flying past, coming to roost on a large ledge hidden against the roof.

Tearing her attention away, Josephine moved silently down the wall, not touching the floor as she went through a doorway and down steps into an even deeper level. There was another level below that.

Josephine gave a yank and dropped to the floor. The room was enormous, and filled with shelves, each one packed with extraterrestrial materials.

Josephine bent in pain, pressing a hand to her side as she gritted her teeth. Her system—whatever that entailed—was reacting to the immense amounts of power. Colors started bleeding into her vision.

Ignoring the pain she moved swiftly along the shelves, soon discovering that there was no sort of filing system. Or if there was, the organizer had no real idea what anything did or was used for.

Grabbing a cylindrical piece of metal from a box, she stuffed it into her bag, speaking as she did so.

"I've been shot before, so if you try it I'll just keep going."

The lights came on and Jack spoke behind her. "You know, for someone so good and B and E, you aren't exactly dressed for the crime Jo."

Josephine adjusted her neon purple watch cap. "Not much point in hiding; I knew you would be here Harkness."

"Then why did you come?"

"I can't risk staying in Cardiff for too long, especially not long enough for you to catch me." Josephine pulled an item off the shelf and stuffed it into her bag.

"So to avoid capture you walked into our base."

Josephine didn't turn, knowing that if she looked at him she'd probably try to eat him again. The proximity was bad enough. "I looked you guys up—you did detect my break-in, right? I sincerely hope you did, otherwise I'll be very disappointed."

"Yeah, Tosh caught you. Couldn't stop it, but she saw it."

"Good. She's a sharp one, going by her record. Haven't seen her yet, but I've got a good guess as to what her energy signature looks like." Josephine examined a bundle of wires before putting it in her messenger bag. "Anyway, I looked you guys up, and I know what you've been set up to do."

"And what is that?"

Josephine paused, then glanced over her shoulder for a brief moment. "I'm not blind, I saw you checking out my Key. I know what TORCHWOOD was created for." She turned back to her search, hitting a shelf. "You people have a really bad filing system, do you know that?"

"How so?"

"You've got no respect for planet, era, or usage." She started picking up and setting down things in example. "This is a child's board game that has seen better days, and this is the equivalent to an assault rifle." Josephine hissed, then gasped for breath as Jack moved a bit closer. She hurried down the shelves and the pain—the craving—lessened.

"You were saying a moment ago," Jack said calmly, "that you know what we're here for. What do you think our purpose is?"

Josephine rounded a corner and looked at him through the shelves. Her world started to tint silver along with the other colors. "To keep the Doctor out. To protect the world from him." She laughed derisively. "You have no idea what he does for this planet."

"So it is a TARDIS Key."

She backed up, searching through more shelves. "Look, I don't know how you found me, or who even tipped you off to my existence, but you have no idea who you sucked through that Rift. I'm able to do and see things you can't imagine, and there is no way I'm helping you locate the Doctor." She laughed painfully. "And I know you've been searching for him, Captain Jack Harkness. Had his hand once. I'll have to ask him about that sometime. But you've lost your chance and I will not let you back at him."

"Tell me, is he still wearing pinstripes or has he changed?"

Josephine looked sharply back at Jack. "You would know about something as private as regeneration. Yes, he changed recently. You wouldn't even know him if you did see him."

"How do you do it?" Jack asked abruptly. "Draining life; how does that work?"

"It's a very tricky process," Josephine said flippantly, "but I come by it naturally. Haven't been at it long, but basically I suck the life out of your blood." She inhaled through her nose in an exaggerated manner. "Still bleeding, aren't you?"

"No point in hiding it. How do you do it?"

"Sure, I'll tell you exactly how I function, then you can shoot me and have it work. I don't think so." Josephine hit the side of a shelf in frustration. "Why can't a group as psycho as TORCHWOOD have a decent filing system?"

"Not willing to take the time to look?"

"Not risking taking the time to look," Josephine corrected. She met Jack's eyes between the shelves. "Like I said; you have no idea what you brought through the Rift. If I hang here much longer, someone's going to end up dead, and that list includes the four people you've got hiding upstairs."

"I'm not letting you leave."

"Try and stop me, Sparky."

With a great shove, Josephine pushed over the shelf in front of her. Jack had no time to move out of the way and was pinned beneath it. Josephine bolted, jumping over the mess, springing up the shelves and attaching herself to the ceiling. Scampering as quickly as she was physically able, she made a beeline for the door.

No sooner had Josephine come out into the main room then bullets started flying at her. Josephine turned her head and hissed down at the weasel-faced man as one of his shots went through her thigh.

She heard a motor start running and looked over sharply as the elevator to the surface started to close. A loud screech near her made her look over as the pteranodon came flying at her, angry at being woken by the shots.

Josephine took the chance. Ripping her hands off of the ceiling, she twisted in the air, grabbing onto the flying dinosaur's neck. With a quick heave, she flipped herself up and onto its back. Grabbing where the shoulders would be, Josephine pulled back, flipping the pteranodon around and directing it straight for the rapidly shrinking escape window.

The pteranodon shot out the elevator hatch just as it was about to close. Josephine let go, landing heavily on the cement ground before hauling herself up and sprinting away.


	5. Chapter 5

Jack had managed to extricate himself from the destroyed storage area in time to see the last second of Josephine's escape. He stood with the rest of the team, staring up at the now closed exit.

"I'm not sure if I want to kiss her for being amazing, or wring her neck for letting Myfanwy out."

Jack looked sideways at Ianto. "I was about to say that."

"Sorry sir."

"At least we can call Myfanwy back," Tosh said.

"Yeah, but what about Tex?" Owen snapped, referring Jack's earlier comment. "Can't exactly bring her running back with a signal."

"I don't think she got everything she needed," Jack said. "She wasn't impressed with our storage system and couldn't find everything she wanted."

"Jack, you said that you had a mutual friend," Gwen interjected. "Didn't you explain things?"

"I didn't have a chance," Jack sighed. "She's convinced that we're still here to protect the planet from the Doctor. And something's wrong with her."

"Wrong?"

"Tosh," Jack ordered sharply, ignoring Ianto's question. "We're right on top of the center of the Rift, right?"

"Going off our energy readings, yes."

"And you said you can track her because she seems to pull in energy, right?"

"Yes."

Gwen caught on, her compassion showing in her tone. "She's over-charged, can't handle the power."

"Exactly," Jack said. "I think her attack on me pushed her over the edge, or nearly. She's probably not thinking straight, and she sounded like she was in pain. I don't think she means harm to anyone."

"So you're taking her side now?"

Jack ignored Owen's comment. "Tosh, find her. Ianto, get a cell ready. Gwen and Owen, get in the car. We're going to locate her and get her in here."

* * *

Josephine ducked into an alleyway and stopped, taking a few deep breaths. She grinned, the adrenaline rush exhilarating.

"That'll be a fun story to tell the Doctor."

Josephine swallowed the lump that appeared in her throat. Looking up, she saw that the rain had stopped and the clouds were clearing.

"If I ever see him again."

Right now, she didn't have high hopes. She knew she didn't have all she needed to rebuild her communicator, and there was little chance of getting back in for a longer search. If only Jack hadn't been there!

Josephine stood up and took a calming breath. TORCHWOOD couldn't run on nothing; they had to sleep sometime. It was early morning, and they'd been up all night. They would have to sleep, so Josephine could rest, maybe get something to eat and drink. Then she'd think things through, maybe set up a distraction to get them out. She'd find a way. She always did; she was Kathryn Trouble Moore.

Feeling better, she looked down the alleyway, then bit her lip as an urge struck her. After checking to see if she was alone, Kathryn grinned widely and took a running start. With a great splash she landed in the very center of the puddle. Water showered up around her and she started twirling down the alleyway, making sure to land in every pool of water, then started back up the same path.

"Laugh loud, play hard, and always remember to splash in puddles."

Josephine stopped abruptly, standing perfectly still as Jack watched her from the end of the alleyway. She spun about to go the other way but saw Gwen and Owen waiting for her. She pulled back and jerked towards Jack before remembering he was there.

She glanced in either direction, then up to the wall across from her.

"Don't," Jack warned. "I will shoot you before you can twitch. Even if it doesn't kill you, it'll stop you long enough for my needs."

Josephine faced him evenly as he walked up towards her. She could feel Gwen and Owen drawing in closer from the other side.

When Jack was quite close, Josephine jumped forward, splashing in the muddiest puddle there. The water and mud showered up and onto Jack's coat. Her face showed no expression, but he smiled.

"If I'd met you anywhere else, I'd ask you out to dinner. Bring her in!"

* * *

Gwen glanced into the back seat where Jack and Josephine were. No one had spoken since they'd gotten into the car and started back to TORCHWOOD.

Josephine was sitting perfectly still, feet flat on the car floor. Her fingertips barely touched each other in the handcuffs and her eyes were closed as though she were meditating. Gwen got the horrible feeling everyone was being watched and that Josephine was carefully planning something.

* * *

Josephine's hearts raced as she madly tried to think of something to do. She couldn't stay with these people; she couldn't even stay here in Cardiff. There was too much energy pressing down on her, suffocating her and eating away at her sanity. Power corrupts, and Josephine knew what she was like corrupt.

And then there was Jack…

* * *

Josephine was placed in a holding cell after being stripped of her bag and wallet. She'd fought like a wild beast when they'd tried to take her pouch and her Key, so they'd left them alone.

Jack sent everyone home for a rest. They'd worked hard and finally brought in this new visitor. However, since sleeping became bothersome after such a long life, Jack was still wide awake. Currently, he was staring at the piles of stuff that had been in Josephine's messenger bag. She seemed to have everything necessary for survival in it, along with other bits and bobs that seemed to have little use.

He looked again at the bag, running his fingers over the faded writing on it. Jack was certain he'd seen it at some point during one of his times with the Doctor, meaning that the bag was Gallifreyan. Why would a life-eater have the Doctor's stuff? And say he had recently regenerated? Had Josephine done something to the Doctor? But then why would she be so protective of the TARDIS Key?

And then there was the wallet that had been in her pocket. It was full of money, but held little else besides a fried computer chip and an I.D. card for TORCHWOOD, of all places! Why would she have one of those?

Add to that the incomplete file they were compiling of her appearances through history, and Jack was left with a huge puzzle, little way to solve it, and no idea of what would happen when he figured it out.

Jack leaned back in his desk chair, watching the live feed of Josephine's holding cell. She hadn't moved from her position on her back, hands folded as much as the cuffs would allow. No, more so. Jack sighed when he realized she had snapped her handcuffs off. But if she was that strong, why wasn't she trying to break out of her cell?

As much as Jack wanted answers, he knew he needed more people here before he could start getting them.

* * *

It was early afternoon before the others returned to the Hub. Jack didn't blame them, though he had been getting antsy. Josephine still hadn't so much as twitched, and it felt very wrong to him.

Ianto came in with a folder, the results of Tosh purposefully leaving her facial recognition search on all night. It was disturbingly thin.

Jack flipped through the measly collection. It consisted of perhaps ten separate documents, mostly black-and-white newspaper photos with an occasional color copy of a painting. Two paintings in particular caught his eye.

"I hope these aren't her."

"Facial recognition says it is."

"Then we're going to have a few problems," Jack said, still studying the painting. "If this is her from…1728, then there's no telling what she is now."

"I think you should talk with her."

"I think you're right."

* * *

Josephine listened carefully, using her senses and her energy view to watch Jack and…was that Gwen Cooper? Or Owen Harper? come down the stairs into the holding cells. She waited for them to stop in front of the clear, thick plastic with breathing holes that separated them.

"Do you offer room service here?"

Obviously it wasn't what TORCHWOOD had been expecting her to ask, though it had been almost all Josephine had been able to think about for the last ten hours.

"What?"

"Room service," Josephine repeated, now knowing it was Gwen who had accompanied Jack. "I'm not looking for anything fancy, but a meal would be nice."

"You didn't feed her?" Gwen asked, turning towards Jack. "Really Jack."

"She tried to eat me the first time we met."

"You smelled good," Josephine said wryly. She sat up and opened her eyes, sighing when she spotted the folder in Jack's hand.

"If you're going to ask questions, do it properly. None of this cell door stuff. I want a meal, laced with…let's say anthrax. Anthrax is a good start. Then I want a proper room, with a table, and I need your techno whiz to be the one sitting across from me."

"Why Tosh?"

Josephine felt something snap and she slammed herself up against the plastic. Gwen jumped back but Jack held his ground. Josephine could feel her eyes glowing and knew she was probably sparking as she gritted her teeth while speaking.

"Because, morons, I am about to go over the edge just sitting here, and I can guarantee you don't want that to happen. This Rift is problem enough without something to help burn the energy off. The two of you are making things worse. I live with a man who has an energy balance similar to your genius and I know how to deal with it. Get me the anthrax because I need something for my body to heal from. If you don't, I swear I will not be responsible for my actions."

Jack stared at Josephine for another half second before turning away. "Gwen, get the interrogation room set up and tell Tosh what's going on. I'm going to send out for a hamburger."


	6. Chapter 6

An hour later, Tosh was sitting uneasily across from Josephine. She had a list of questions written out for her to ask, as well as the file that she had created. Josephine looked like she was mostly at ease with the set-up, hands folded calmly in front of her. She had a mug and a coffee pot that was laced with highly concentrated anthrax. The strange girl had agreed to answer almost every question put to her, but had told them point blank that if they asked about the Doctor she would not answer nor would she do anything to assist in their finding him.

"You're the smartest one of the bunch, aren't you?"

Tosh gave a slight start. "What?"

"I can see it. You're the smartest of the bunch, at least in intellect. You should be more forward with it, confidant."

Tosh still seemed at a loss. Josephine sighed, leaning forward in her chair and focusing only on Tosh as though the rest of TORCHWOOD wasn't watching them.

"Okay, here's the low down. Life is basically energy, yeah? Four basic categories being light, heat, sound, and mind. I see all that stuff. Now, your boss Sparky up there is jammed full of temporal energy, pure as you like it, which is the only reason I can see it. Your Rift is about as tainted as energy comes. When Sparky so intelligently decided to chase me down, and then corner me in your storage closet, he was basically offering a crack addict a chance at the real stuff rather than cough syrup."

Tosh seemed to have her bearings again. "Can you manipulate it?"

"Heh, no. It'd be nice, but the most I can do is draw it in faster for short periods of time. Useful when I'm injured. Or dead."

Tosh smiled. "You sound like Jack."

Josephine gave Tosh a look. "I'm going to take that as an insult."

Up top, the other TORCHWOOD members—Jack excluded—snickered. Tosh produced the contents of Josephine's wallet and spread them on the table.

"How did you get one of our cards?"

"I had recently landed on a Rift planet. The wallet literally hit me in the head. Inside was money, the I.D. card, and the not-yet-fried chip."

"Was does the computer chip do?"

Josephine sat back and smiled. She said something in Japanese that caught Tosh off guard before she smiled and started answering in the same language.

Jack tapped on the glass and Tosh glanced up at it before switching back to English. "It's a lot like the tracking and homing device I've been trying to make in my spare time, to help us study the Rift up close. It must be a future version of it. Nice to know it works."

Josephine nodded. "Told you that you were the smart one."

Tosh smiled, then remembered herself. She opened up the file folder and selected the two color copies of paintings, the ones that had everyone worried and curious.

"You seem to get around a lot, temporally speaking."

Contrary to what everyone had expected, the girl grinned as she looked through the pictures.

"Oh, I haven't seen this style for a long time," Josephine said, gently touching the superb paintings in front of her.

"What's it supposed to be of?" Tosh asked. Josephine's smile was a touch bitter-sweet as she looked at Tosh with clear eyes.

"A child's view of who I am."

Tosh looked down at the paintings, the message clear even upside down. "An angel?"

"She was eight," Josephine explained. "Her mother was dead, her father didn't care and her brother imitated her father but was recently dead as well. I…saved her from something. A Naime. It was sensitive to light."

"Is that why you have a blazing sword?"

Josephine smiled again, biting her lip. She stared at the gorgeous images. A red-haired girl that looked remarkably like Josephine was depicted in both, wearing a long-sleeved shirt and jeans. In the first, her gloves were black and holding firmly to the hilt and tip of a brightly glowing broadsword. The nearly invisible wings spread behind her as Josephine faced a dark shape, staring it in the eyes as she held the sword up between them at chest level.

"It wasn't really a sword. But how else do you interpret a UV light?"

"And the other?"

The other was a close up of Josephine's face. Her hair was short and her face gentle, full of affection and care, but something painful and worried was buried there too. Her eyes shone with intelligence, yet youth and firm strength was also evident, mixed in with more than a hint of mischief. It had been painted on parchment rather than paper, giving the whole painting a glow, as if light came straight from her body.

"My back was to a window, and I was the only one worried about her at the time."

"She thought highly of you."

"I'm a better person because of it."

"Was this before or after you met the Doctor?"

Josephine scowled. "I told you; he's off limits."

"We aren't trying to capture him anymore," Tosh said steadily. "Jack's traveled with him before, knows him. We've learned since Victorian times."

"Forgive me for not trusting you."

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to offend you."

Josephine looked evenly at Tosh for a moment. "Out of curiosity, where'd you find the paintings?"

"They were found with several others of the same quality in a basement in Scotland."

Josephine's smile widened. "Oh, that's marvelous. She did keep going."

She stared at the paintings a moment longer before straightening and looking back at Tosh. "Well then Toshiko. What else do you want to know?"

"Do you know how you absorb the energy?"

"I don't have the slightest idea, not really. Drawing blood is hard enough without prodding around further. Besides, it's probably better I not know."

"Why is that?"

Josephine smiled up at the observation glass, meeting Jack's eyes in a challenge. "Ever heard of a Jahra, Sparky?"

Less than a minute later Jack had opened the door and stepped into the interrogation room. Josephine pressed herself against the opposite wall.

"Get out before I try eating you again."

"You're a rouge Jahra?" Without waiting for an answer, Jack threatened, "If you bring the Rahki down on us, I swear I will turn you in."

"If they could track me, I'd be there by now," Josephine hissed. "I was removed early and my retrieval went wrong. The girl I was living as has been back for a long time, and I never looked her up to see what she would become. Yes, I'm a Jahra clone. No, I don't know most of what a Jahra should know. Something's screwy with my memory, I absorb energy and life, and I will kill every one of you rather than let them take me back. Now give me some space."

Jack stared at Josephine a little longer before stepping back out the door. Josephine went straight to her anthrax coffee, ignoring the mug and going directly to the pot, draining it. She inhaled deeply and sat back down, calming herself.

"Well. I can now see that that wasn't the brightest move on my part. So, it looks like we need to shake things up a bit. I highly doubt you're letting me loose any time soon. I, however, need to do something or I will start to go insane. Trust me, the last time I was inactive for a great length of time I managed to construct a room entirely out of jigsaw puzzles and gum. Don't ask me how, but I did. I then proceeded to eat my way out, having left no doors."

"You want to work for us?"

Josephine acknowledged Tosh's surprise with a nod. "No, but I don't have any other choice. To start with, I could help you upgrade that computer of yours. It's very impressive, but it can do better. I also happen to speak two dozen distinct alien tongues, which you need in your line of work. And then there's that storage space of yours! My word, but that thing could do with a bit of organizing."

"You'd want something in return for this."

Josephine smiled. "I want to be allowed to fix my communicator. If you don't have the parts for that—or even if you do—I want you to finish your work on the original chip."

Tosh smiled teasingly. "Deciding to trust us with your Doctor?"

"No," Josephine replied bluntly. "But I need to get out of this place as soon as I can, for everyone's safety. And I want my bag back, along with the rest of my stuff. I'll also need full access to your med center. I don't care what Weasel-Boy says, I don't trust humans with the sorts of diseases I'm going to be making, let alone the concentrations. Until I can get those up and running, I'll have to work with rat poison and whatever else you have lying around to keep my energy levels in check."

"Shouldn't you already have those under control, being twenty three and all?"

Josephine seemed pleasantly surprised, then smiled wryly. "I wasn't finished properly." She leaned forward again. "So. What do you say?"

* * *

An hour later, Josephine was down in the storage area, walking about with a clipboard for notes and trying to take in just how big the place was. The further in she went the more there seemed to be some kind of organization, so she guessed that either TORCHWOOD had been flooded with stuff and hadn't had the time, or they just got lazy. She was betting on the second one.

Josephine sighed. These people were confusing. She'd done the very, very quick overview of who they were before breaking in physically, and in the history section it clearly said that they were created by Queen Victoria to protect the British Empire from extraterrestrial threat, to capture the Doctor, and to secure alien technology for Britain.

Yet, when Josephine reviewed the snapshot of the Doctor's memory, she thought she felt—though it might have been imagined—friendly emotions attached to the man who shouldn't exist. TORCHWOOD itself had intense dislike, nearly a grudge, but Jack seemed…alright. Maybe he'd improved the place. Everyone else seemed to consider him the leader.

But Josephine would need some kind of solid proof. It wasn't that she didn't think the Doctor couldn't take care of himself; she just didn't want to put him in danger if she could help it. She felt more protective of him than she had her own family back when she was still human. It was more of an instinct than a real thought, making her think that it was some part of her programming. But why would the Rahki, a people forbidden time travel by the Time Lords, want to protect one?

Josephine shrugged. It was probably a glitch. Useful, but still a glitch.

For security's sake, Josephine had been forbidden computer access and wasn't allowed to leave the hub. Owen had thrown a fit about giving her use of the med center, so Jack had relented and ordered stuff for her to set up her own work station down in the basement. Josephine had already developed a friendly dislike for the scrawny man, who she knew wanted more than anything to open her up and see how she worked. Josephine herself had wondered about that, but was a bit scared to learn. Maybe in a few weeks she'd give him a pint of blood as a gift and let him have fun with it. Maybe.

Finally Josephine found the back wall. She turned around and looked back towards the front, which was little more than a rectangle of light in the distance. She'd have to put a door up, give herself privacy.

Not that she'd really need a door for privacy. Aliens aside, the whole Hub and the TORCHWOOD members felt like any other office. Days had to have a pattern, probably a very dull one. Josephine looked up and around her at the shelves. All this stuff, and they were so boring!

Josephine grinned suddenly. Every place needed a crazy lady in the basement, and she liked Tuesdays.


	7. Chapter 7

Ianto Jones was in the main entrance of TORCHWOOD, the area disguised as a waterfront tourist information office. Like the rest of the group, he was still puzzling over Josephine Cole. Though technically under his direct charge, working in the archives and all, she seemed to avoid all un-required contact with him.

It puzzled him. She wasn't anti-social; if anything, she sought out human contact. Tosh and Josephine were downright friendly, Josephine constantly argued with Owen—something they both enjoyed—and she would discuss family and guns with Gwen. She and Jack kept their distance from each other out of necessity, but they still spoke.

Josephine even had her own names for each of the members, besides Jack's 'Sparky'; Gwen had become Gwyneth, Owen was insulted with the title of Medic, and Tosh was graced with her full name of Toshiko. But Ianto was simply Mr. Jones. It made him feel like a barely known neighbor.

The door opened and Ianto blinked in surprise.

"Jo?"

She smiled at him, a raspberry ripple ice cream cone clasped in one hand and a dry cleaner's bag slung over her other shoulder.

"Good evening Mr. Jones." Josephine unslung the dry cleaning from her shoulder and held it out to him. Still dazed, Ianto took it and glanced at the logo.

"These are the same people I take my suits to."

"I know. I found the old receipts and bags in your trash."

"My what?"

"Your trash," Josephine responded, her Texan accent lengthening the words. She ate more of her ice cream. "I was out, so I popped by your house. I sent out the suits, gave your place a thorough cleaning, repainted your room a marvelous forest green, sent out for a new suit for you, and picked up your dry cleaning on my way back here."

"You were in my house?" Ianto repeated, more than a little disturbed. "And on whose tab did you do all this?"

"I used the wad of cash I found while organizing your sock drawer."

Ianto stared at Josephine, speechless. She licked at the ice cream cone before commenting, "Then I replenished from the wallet I had when I came through the Rift. You might have an extra fiver, I'm not sure. Still working on the whole pounds thing." She paused. "If that is what you use. Have you changed it yet at this point in history?"

Ianto came out of his daze. "And at the end of this you went to go get…ice cream."

"It's a gorgeous day outside."

"It's the middle of February."

"Point being?"

Ianto frowned. "How did you even get out of the Hub? You're still under probation."

"I needed a break and I wanted ice cream," Josephine said simply. "If it's not too much trouble Mr. Jones, would you mind opening the door? I want to get back in before Sparky gets too ticked."

Ianto reached under the counter and the brick wall slid open. Josephine was halfway to it when Ianto asked a question. "Why do you call me that?"

Josephine looked him in the eye. "Because out of all the TORCHWOOD members, you are the one I would least like to cross and the one I respect the most." She tugged the front of her neon watch cap. "Evening sir."

Ianto looked down at the dry cleaning bag, questions bopping about his head. He discarded them; she was odd, that was all. Still, most people had strange moments near the end of the week, not on Tuesday.

* * *

Gwen pulled out her cellphone, glancing at the screen to see who had sent her a text. She didn't recognize the number and opened the message.

**Lower the elevator.**

Gwen frowned at her phone, then it buzzed again with another message.

**Pizza's getting cold.**

Looking away from the phone, Gwen called out to the other members. "Did someone tell the guys at Jubilee Pizza to use the lift?"

She got some shocked looks. "No," Jack said. "At least they'd better not have, or someone's out of a job."

"I'm getting texts that—" Gwen's phone buzzed again and she opened the newest message.

**Please? Forget the pizza, I'm cold.**

Ianto came up the steps from the archive. "Let it down; it's Jo."

"Jo!?"

Jack hit the button on his wrist band and the lift started to come down. "How the hell did she get out? And how did you know?"

Ianto's smile was as enigmatic as ever. "She did this last Tuesday as well."

Owen looked at Ianto. "And you didn't think it would be good to mention that the crazed Texan was running around Cardiff?"

"We let you out," Gwen tossed at him.

"Hey!" Jack called firmly back to them as he walked down to the elevator base. It was too dark in the Hub to see Josephine clearly. "Stop the arguing! Owen, get an injection of something nasty. I don't want any surprises."

The lift came to a stop and Josephine stepped off, wearing a uniform from Jubilee Pizza and balancing six pizza boxes in one hand.

"Grub!" she called out cheerfully. Quickly pulling a box out of the middle of the stack while expertly not dropping the other five, Josephine handed it to Jack. His name was written on the top. "Evening Sparky."

"What were you doing out?"

"Making pizza." Josephine walked up to Owen and gave him a box. "I promise I didn't poison it."

His face set in its usual state of irritation and sarcasm, Owen jabbed a needle into Josephine's upper arm and injected something as he took the pizza box. When he tried pulling the needle back out it didn't work. Josephine sighed.

"Sometimes you are severely annoying."

Jack wasn't finished. "You're still on probation."

"Ever heard of cabin fever?" Josephine shot back. The needle was still hanging from her arm. She handed a box to Gwen, still talking to Jack. "You try being stuck in a basement for two weeks after having free run of the vortex. Besides, not like you could stop me."

Elegantly Josephine gave Tosh her pizza, saying something in Japanese. Tosh smiled and thanked her in the same language. Josephine handed the fifth box to Ianto, her eyes twinkling. "Mr. Jones."

"Did you use last week's route?" he asked, enjoying the expression on Jack's face.

"I did."

"What is it exactly?"

"I'm just that good," Josephine said, winking. She turned around, holding a box with her name out to Jack. "Hang onto this for me."

Josephine took a firm hold of the needle that was still attached to her arm. She glared at Owen. "Watch closely Medic, because I'm only doing this once."

Clenching her teeth, Josephine ripped the needle from her arm, gasping in pain. Flesh covered half of the needle and syringe. Her sleeve quickly stained with purple blood as she handed the offending object to Owen.

"Happy Kwanza."

He looked closely at it, then at her nearly healed arm. "What exactly happened?"

"The needle punctures my arm and my body tries to heal the injury. However, in order to completely close itself off from the environment the way skin does for a body, it has to cover the entire thing. Use one on me again and I'll beat you over the head with it." Josephine turned to Jack, reclaiming her pizza box, and then headed for the basement stairs. "Enjoy!"

"Jack," Tosh said hesitantly. She looked up at him from her chair, confused. "My toppings have been cut and arranged in the picture of a turtle with a purple bandana over its eyes."

Everyone opened their boxes, comparing pictures. "Mine's wearing blue," Jack said, just as perplexed.

"I have orange," Gwen put out.

"She gave me a rat," Ianto said evenly.

"Splinter."

Everyone looked over at Owen. He was looking down into his own box. "TMHT." He looked disgusted. "Oh, don't tell me you didn't all watch Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles when you were kids."

"Ninja Turtles!" Josephine's voice echoed up from down below. "They were ninja turtles!"

"You have April, don't you!?" Owen shouted back at her.

"No! Shredder!"

"Of course," Owen said with a sigh. Everyone was still looking at him with wide eyes, waiting for the explanation. The sarcasm didn't leave his voice.

"Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo, with their sensei rat Splinter." Still greeted by blank looks, Owen rolled his eyes. "Just look it up."

As he stalked off, Jack looked down into his box, then up at Ianto.

"You said she got out last week too."

"Yes sir."

"What did she do?" Tosh asked.

"Cleaned my house, sent out and picked up my dry cleaning, and bought me a 70's style plaid suit. I haven't decided if I'm going to wear it or not."

Jack looked back at the pizza. "Last Tuesday, you said."

"Yes sir."

"You think this is going to become a pattern?"

"If it is, next week will certainly be interesting."

* * *

Owen strode through the Hub, not turning his head as he went straight to Jack's office. Not bothering to knock, he stepped inside and stopped in front of the desk.

"Jack, I'm going to kill her. I mean it this time."

"Jo can't die Owen," Jack said, not looking up from his paperwork. "We've been over this."

"Then I'm going to strap her to my table and slice her open when I find it."

Jack looked up at Owen, his confusion vanishing when he looked at Owen.

"It's Tuesday, isn't it?"

"It's Tuesday, and I can't find anything."

"Not even your clothes from the look of it."

Gwen chose that moment to come into the office. "The pictures you asked for Jack." She froze, finally seeing Owen. She walked around him, carefully looking up and down.

"Jo turned you into a floating head?"

"No, she didn't," Owen snapped, still beyond peeved. He seemed to shimmer, like some kind of mirage that wasn't certain if it wanted to appear. "When I got up this morning, everything was fine. After I put my clothes on, this happened."

Jack couldn't see Owen's hands, but heard them hit his legs as he dropped his arms. "She did something to your clothes."

"She did something to my clothes," Owen confirmed. "I had to wrap myself in trash bags to get here, and now look." Seemingly appearing from the air, but probably coming out of Owen's jacket pocket, a holey black garbage bag suddenly hung from nothing. The holes were steadily growing.

Jack stared at it for a moment. "You said you couldn't find your medical table."

Owen turned and—presumably—stalked from Jack's office, Jack and Gwen following him. Owen led them to the sunken medical bay. Usually it was full of equipment; right now, there was nothing.

"She took everything," Owen said, irritated. Owen's head floated quickly down the stairs and one of the cupboards opened. "This used to hold drugs. _Expensive_ drugs."

Gwen tilted her head, walking down the stairs. "No, she treated it with whatever's on your clothes." She tapped the place where the autopsy table should have been. There was a dull metallic sound. "It's here, you just can't see it."

"I don't care," Owen snapped. "If I can't see it, I can't do my job!"

"Oh good, you still manage to show!"

Owen glared at Josephine. "What did you do to everything?"

"Light redirecting nanobots," Josephine stated brightly. "I found a whole case of the little critters a few days ago, and I just had to give them a field test. Some are sensitive to heat, others not so much." She hopped over the railing, landing on the floor. Going to the open cupboard, she reached into it, moving her arm about near the back. Wrapping her hand around something none of them could see, Josephine made a motion as though tossing the invisible object to Owen.

"Catch."

There was the sound of a bottle of pills hitting the floor. Owen was still glaring at Josephine. "I don't care what you did; I want my work space back."

"It should show up in eight hours or so. Well, unless you really need it. Then I'll bring it back. Otherwise, I'm having far too much fun making you upset."

Josephine grinned and withdrew her arm from the cupboard, clutching a dusty bottle full of bright, nearly neon orange liquid. She tossed the bottle up to Jack. "Here Sparky; take a pull."

Jack took the bottle, sniffed the open top, and then tipped some of it into his mouth. He stared at the bottle, impressed. "Wow. Been awhile since I've had this stuff." He drank more of it. Josephine took the bottle back.

"Is Thala expensive?"

"Oh yes."

Josephine sipped at it, sniffing deeply after she swallowed. Her eyes watered briefly. "Hoo, yes. Now that's moonshine."

"What's Thala?" Gwen asked.

"400 proof alcohol."

"Alcohol only goes up to 200."

"Now it does; by the 50th century we figure out how to make it strong."

"Jack!" Owen said, upset at his plight being ignored. "A joke is fine, but this is too far." He glared at Josephine. "I swear, I'm going to have you strapped to this table so fast—"

"What table?" Josephine grinned. "I don't see a table."

"Jack!" Owen complained pleadingly.

Jack smirked, turning and walking off, taking the bottle of Thala back from Josephine as he did. "Jack!" Owen called after him. "Jack, this isn't funny!" Gwen snickered as she walked up the stairs, also leaving Owen. "Gwen, shut it!"

Josephine smiled broadly. "See you in eight hours Medic."

She trotted past Jack, fairly skipping back to the basement.

"How do you get out?"

"Mad skillzz."

"Is this sort of thing going to keep happening every Tuesday?"

"See you next week."

* * *

Tosh turned on her T.V., letting the news roll while she got ready for work.

"…and lows near 14 degrees. In other news, all the power lines have vanished overnight from Glenarm in Northern Ireland."

Tosh looked at the screen as images of common telephone poles and city blocks without their cables flashed by. The newscaster kept talking.

"Reports came flooding in from power stations that exactly one second past twelve this morning the power lines simply disappeared."

The image cut to a man in church robes, the tagline showing him to be a Father Kelly.

"I was returning late last night after giving Mrs. Johnston her last rites. I looked up, admiring the stars and all, when the cables just left. Gone, without a warning or a sign of being taken."

Tosh finished getting dressed quickly. She'd skip breakfast this morning; it sounded like alien activity, and the Hub would be going full speed.

She paused at the small table by the door, looking at the card on it. Pulling out her phone, she checked the date. Tuesday.

Tosh came dashing into the Hub, pulling to an abrupt stop just inside the front door. Down near the small pond, in the sunken medical bay, and a few other places, power cords were stacked floor to ceiling like firewood, each one cut to be about 60 centimeters long and bedecked in multicolored ribbons. The rest of the team, sans Ianto, was staring at them and barely glanced at Tosh as she walked over to the group.

"What are we going to do with them all?" Gwen asked. "We can't return them, cut up like that."

"58.2 centimeters," Ianto's voice rang out from the computer desk. "All of them, exactly 58.2 centimeters long, no deviation in any direction."

"How are we supposed to explain this one?" Owen said. "We're going to be getting calls soon."

"We could always tell them the truth," Jack suggested. Owen gave him a look.

"Right, I'd like to see that conversation. 'Hi, sorry about the power cords, but a homicidal energy absorbing insane Texan living in our basement decided that every Tuesday was prank day.'"

"How fast do you think she had to work?" Gwen said, amazed. "It's a lot of cord."

"Gwen, it's Jo," Owen said, still peeved his work space was cut off yet again. "A lightning bolt with a cocaine addiction and a sugar rush couldn't keep up with her."

"Why do you think she did this?" Ianto asked, the question more of a statement. "So far she hasn't done anything really malevolent."

"This one's mine," Tosh spoke up, holding out the handmade card. The front read, in perfect calligraphy, **Have a Very Merry Un-Birthday**.

"I mentioned off hand the other day that new power cords would be nice," Tosh said, eyes twitching from one person to the next the way they usually did. "We wouldn't have really needed them for another few months. I guess she took me seriously."

Jack sighed, looking back at the cords. "Will these work?"

"Yes."

"Then I guess we keep them. Not like they can be sent back. Just make sure we get funds sent to Glenarm to pay for this."

"She already did that," Tosh said, opening the card. It read, in the same exquisite hand, **I transferred the money already.**

Jack chuckled. "Alright then. Ianto, go get our resident nut. She can help move all of these out of here."

"Do I tell her she needs to explain how she did this?"

"I don't really want to know," Jack said. "But she does have to think of a story for the public."

"Sir, you do realize that you're next."

"Next?"

"For a Tuesday sir. You're the only one she hasn't tailored a joke too."

Jack smiled. "I'm the probation officer. She's too smart to do that."

* * *

"Packing peanuts. I think she filled it with Styrofoam packing peanuts."

"No, real ones. She cornered the peanut market and the whole place is full of nuts."

"Actually a peanut is a legume. I see something more out of the ordinary, possibly lima beans."

"An aquarium. She's turned it into an aquarium and filled it with sea creatures. Remember that squid she wanted to keep as a pet?"

Jack stood behind his team, who were all gathered at the front door. He'd taken to finding outside activities on Monday nights, not wanting to be around while Josephine set things up.

"No, I still think it's food," Owen put out. "Maybe Jell-O. Green Jell-O, all of our stuff stuck in it like so many pieces of fruit. We'll have to eat our way through."

"I rather fancy she got us a second pteranodon," Jack said, alerting the group to his presence. "Maybe Myfanwy deserves a friend."

"And then we can all have flying lessons," Owen said sarcastically.

"I'm sure if we asked her she would teach us," Ianto said seriously. "I saw a halter on Myfanwy a few nights ago. I'm fairly certain that's how Jo gets out all the time."

Jack shook his head. "Well, we can't stand here all day."

He boldly went up to the keypad by the door as everyone else braced themselves for an onslaught of whatever this week had brought.

Nothing happened. Unbidden, everyone drew their guns, walking into their base as though it were a dangerous criminal hideout.

Everything was normal. Nothing was disturbed. It was almost eerie.

There was a beep and everyone spun around, firing.

"Hold!"

On Jack's command they stopped, looking at the smoking mass that used to be a fax machine.

"Put the guns away. It's not like Jo's threatened our lives while here."

The team did as told, still treading carefully as they examined everything.

"There's nothing," Gwen finally said. "Nothing at all."

"Not even Limburger in the air vents," Owen confirmed. "You think she ran out of ideas?"

"Or she finally managed to get her communicator up and running," Jack said. "She'd been working on it every chance she had."

"Wouldn't she say good bye?" Tosh asked softly.

"She's Jo; you can't predict her."

A strange quiet fell over the group as they all went to their respective corners. Jack went to his office, also feeling a bit depressed. Josephine had grown on him, and if she was gone then the Doctor had also come and gone, and Jack had missed a chance.

Jack opened his office door, then stepped back, closing it again. He opened it one more time, then closed it.

"Ianto, get me Animal Control."

"Is there a reason sir?"

"There's a live platypus wearing a cowboy costume and riding a moose in my office. I want them gone by the time I get back."

"Where are you going sir?"

"To talk to the woman in my basement."


	8. Chapter 8

"Jo, we need to talk."

"I whole-heartedly agree," Josephine said from behind her chemical workstation in the basement. She reached under the counter and pulled out a crystal bottle, drinking from it.

Jack looked at it curiously. "Vodka?"

"Isopropyl." She perched on a stool, the alcohol deadly enough that she wouldn't try jumping Jack. The disease treatments she'd been giving herself thrice daily also helped with that. When she burned energy healing herself, she craved it less.

"Jo, these…Tuesday escapades have been escalating."

"Because I'm going stir crazy down here. I have nothing to do, and far too much to do it with."

Jack raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly around the immense archives. "I think there's a lot to do down here."

Josephine gave him a level stare. Taking the bottle with her, she marched over to her desk and opened a large drawer, pulling out a stack of clipboards, each barely holding onto a fat sheaf of paper.

"I have organized this place. I have entered every piece of alien junk you have here into the computer you gave me and delivered the information to Toshiko. I have catalogued everything a dozen ways till Sunday."

She started reading the tops of the clipboards, dropping them off to the side with a clatter. "Alphabetically, date received, date of origin, place of origin, household use, office use, private use, age of user, consumables, reading materials, games, body parts, weapons, clothing, mechanics, usefulness for TORCHWOOD, the Dewy Decimal System, stuff Apple hasn't made yet, stuff Apple will never sell, stuff Microsoft will steal from Apple, retail price, inspiration from the fashion world." Josephine looked at Jack. "You want me to go on?"

Jack stared at the clipboards, then looked at Josephine. "What are you still doing here?"

"Pardon me?"

"If you know everything in this place, shouldn't you have everything you need to call the Doctor?"

Josephine sighed, plopping down into her chair. "You don't have the pieces, not quite. I need—no, you need to have Toshiko spend more time with that chip, because I have to leave. I won't last here. I'm already losing it."

"Yeah, I noticed the circus in my office." Josephine grinned at Jack's dry tone, then sobered.

"That's more of a distraction for me than for any of you."

"I know; you're bored."

"No, it's more than that," she said a little absently.

Jack studied her for a moment. "Until we get you out of here, what would you want to do?"

Josephine's demeanor changed. "I've been at this base for five weeks and six days Jack. I've proven that I won't kill any of you, or anyone on the outside. If anything, being outside and away from the Hub is better for me. I want permission to work with Toshiko on the computers. I want access to the firing range to test the stuff I've catalogued, and I want to be allowed to join you when you're tracking down people."

"No to the last one," Jack said firmly. Josephine started to protest, but she caught the look in Jack's eye. "I'm not giving you a gun and then letting you loose on Cardiff. I'll let you leave the Hub, but only if you really need it. I can't risk you snapping and eating someone." He held up his hand to stanch protest. "However, I'm willing to let you work with Tosh. But if she reports so much as a zero where a one ought to be or a one where a zero ought to be, I will help Owen tie you to that operating table."

Josephine's face split in a grin. Leaving the isopropyl behind she went dashing to the stairs. Half way there, she turned around.

"What about the firing range?"

Jack smirked. "I want reports on what you've already done before you continue."

Josephine returned his expression. "Top drawer." Whirling back up the stairs, Jack heard her yelling.

"Toshiko! He's okayed it! Let's get started!"

Jack shook his head as he pulled the reports out of Josephine's top drawer. "I believe I've been had, and very neatly too."

* * *

Josephine set down the laser based grenade launcher and rubbed her sore shoulder. Absently she thought that only someone who ate a lot of calcium and went to the gym regularly should use it.

Josephine did most of her weapons testing at night when everyone but Jack was gone. Whenever Tosh was at the Hub they were working together, and at night there was less chance of an accident.

Josephine sighed, rubbing her temples as she leaned against the wall. She was wallowing in power and she was exhausted. She was tired of being Josephine Cole, TORCHWOOD sub-hire rather than Kathryn T. Moore, adventurer extraordinaire. She was tired of daily rhythm, tired of not talking, tired of being on Earth again, tired of being mature. It didn't help that it was the year that…

No. If she started thinking about that she'd start seeing things again. Not that it mattered; she always saw things. Maybe it was an effect of the Rift, but she'd never heard anyone else mention it.

_**Deering.**_

Josephine inhaled sharply, looking up. That voice. That blasted voice that had been following her ever since she came through the Rift. No, ever since she'd been in the Rift. Tracking her, speaking to her, using names, hinting at things she'd never told anyone.

_**Deering, stop. Don't do this.**_

Josephine grabbed one of the alien handhelds she'd brought with her, pointing it at shadows. That wasn't a new sentence; that was an echo.

A person half formed, as though being seen through heavy mist. _**I won't let you do this. You can't. Please, listen to me!**_

Josephine's hands shook, unable to fire. "You're dead. I know you're dead. I saw it happen. You aren't here, you aren't."

The figure walked towards her, gaining shape and solidity. The echoes continued in her head. _**At least call someone. Get help with this. You can't go back.**_

Josephine stumbled as she tried backing up the stairs, panic setting in as it drew closer. She could smell the blood on the white shirt, smell the gun smoke. The echoes stopped as the voice returned.

_**He tried to stop what you were doing. Why didn't you listen to him?**_

"Shut up! He's dead, and I can't change it! Just shut up!"

"Jo?"

Josephine twisted around at the audible voice, Jack held up his hands, face setting instantly.

"Gun down!"

Josephine realized she was pointing the handheld at Jack. She turned back around to where she'd seen the figure.

Nothing.

"Jo, what's going on?"

Josephine ran her hand through her hair, breathing. "Memories. Just memories," she said, setting the gun down on the stairs.

"Must have been nasty ones."

"Yes." She looked up at him, knowing she sounded desperate. "Jack, do you ever see things here? Rift images or something? Like…like people you used to know, or…or do you hear things, like words people said and your own conscience talking out loud?"

"Not personally," Jack said. "But I know it happens. That's why we have to go see to a lot of ghost calls." He studied her for a moment before waving his hand at her. "Come on. I want to show you something." He frowned. "You won't snap if we teleport, right?"

Josephine shook her head and stood. Setting her hand on his shoulder, he pushed a few buttons on his vortex manipulator and the world turned white.

When they arrived at their destination, Josephine quickly withdrew her hand from Jack's arm. After a moment she realized where they were, more or less.

Josephine was gazing out on the whole city of Cardiff from the top of a building. She closed her eyes, and for the first time in two months, she saw no Rift energy. She couldn't taste or sense it either. It was all down below, its own weight holding it down. There was almost no heat energy, and sound could barely reach her. The only mental waves came from Jack, and what little light there was came from the city far below her and the stars over her head.

"Like it?" Jack asked.

"I love it." Josephine breathed in deeply, giddy with the fact that it was so easy. "I feel like I can move again."

"Rig up a transport and I'll give you the coordinates. Sit down."

Josephine carefully did so, keeping a few feet between she and Jack. "You want to tell me what you were seeing?"

"It was a who," Josephine said after a moment. "Someone…someone I saw buried once."

"An enemy?"

"No. A very good friend." She sat quietly and then turned to him. "How'd you meet the Doctor?"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Do you actually believe me now?"

Josephine smiled. "Have for a bit. I've been watching you, and been reading up on you. Helpful little thing, government websites. Well, if you know how to use them. You certainly do get around."

"Did the Doctor really regenerate?"

"No," Josephine shook her head. "He's still a skinny, sexy man in a pin-stripe suit and has great hair."

"I'll quote you when he shows up."

"And I'll tell him the horrible influence you've been on me."

"Come on, not much we can do by now; you're well past twenty."

Josephine smiled broadly, then sobered. "Jack…who was the Doctor's friend when you met him?"

Jack's expression saddened. "Rose Tyler."

"Was she the soft blond with the naïve vulnerability and severe streak of humanity?"

Jack gave Josephine a sharp look. "Not bad, considering you never met her."

"The Doctor was in my head shortly before I got pulled through the Rift," Josephine hurried to explain. "He had to get a city full of people out of my head and left bits of himself behind. They still pop up sometimes."

"Maybe that accounts for what you've been seeing. No telling with a Time Lord."

"Yeah." Josephine pulled her knees up to her chest, all lightness gone. "I miss him. I miss him a lot."

"Him or the travel?"

"Both, but mostly him. The travel wouldn't be nearly as fantastic without him as a tour guide." Josephine let out a shaky sigh. "I need to get out Sparky. I can't stay here. TORCHWOOD is great, really it is, and you're all amazing, especially Toshiko, but I've got to get out."

"How long have you been traveling with him?"

"Four months. We traveled for four months, just after I figured out the whole Jahra thing."

"You really didn't know you were a clone?"

"Really really."

"Tell me about them."

Josephine looked at Jack in confusion. "About who?"

"Your family. The home you had to leave. What it was like leaving it all behind. How you met the Doctor. Whatever memory was just plaguing you."

"Well, you can't have that one."

"Then tell me about the rest of it."

"Why are you asking?"

"The Doctor isn't much of a listener."

Josephine looked out over the city, fiddling with the pouch around her neck, debating. Then a sad sort of smile spread over her face.

"I was born in Texas, but I didn't live there after I was five. Well, except for summers and during Christmas break. We moved to Northern California, just the four of us; Dad, Mom, my older brother. A crazy, wonderful, stubborn, laughing, clever brother, always dreaming up stories and worlds. One time, we were sitting together and he jumps up…"

* * *

Down at the base of the building, something was solidifying in the alleyway. It shivered and flickered, the form changing like someone flipping through a stack of photos as it searched for a shape to become, finally settling into a continuous flip between two shapes. It paused on one and stared up at the building next to him, his entire being focused on who was up there.

"I can hear you, Kathryn Trouble Moore, Josephine Cole. Talk, and pour out your memories. Feel them, live them again for the moment, just a moment. Let me hear them, feed on them. Let me survive until the time is right. Because it's coming soon my dear, oh so soon."

The man picked up a cracked mirror from the alley he was in and examined his appearance. His hair was messy, and he wore a pin-stripe suit and trench coat over his thin frame. The shoes on his feet were red, looking worn from age and use. With a broad grin revealing perfect teeth, he looked back up at the building.

"Soon, Josephine. Very, very soon, I'll have you standing in front of me, using the one thing you can't resist. I'll take your head in my hands and stare into your lovely green eyes as I absorb every last one of the thoughts racing through your brilliant jewel of a mind. I will watch the look in your eyes as you die and stay that way. Soon Kathryn." He laughed lightly. "Word of the Last Time Lord."

* * *

Sequel out next month. Or, if you want the inferior version, you can find it on my profile under the name, "The Child I Once Was." I don't recommend it, especially if you're relatively new to my series.

Bye!


End file.
